Would be curious to hear how any you decide, in general, how long to stay at rest stances. I'm talking about on climbs you have trouble getting to the top of without getting pumped out on.

For me I go back and forth a lot between choosing to stay longer and milk them, vs not stopping very long at all and focusing on blasting up fast.

Often even after I've milked a decent rest (say two good feet and one good hand that I switch hands on while resting) overall I'm really not so sure I'm any better off than if I'd just stopped briefly for a quick shake out and look ahead, and taken off again.

I think I'm finally leaning towards not staying more than 20 seconds or so, and moving on, but curious how others feel.

(I realize there are other factors to reduce pump, better sequences, technique or fitness, but I'm specifically interested in the aspect of time to spend at rest stances, before you hit diminishing returns)

You should rest until you feel rested enuff to continue on to the next good rest. On some routes that might be 10 seconds on others 5 minutes. The big mistake is to continue on even though you are not fully recovered from the previous sequence.

As long as I am not getting more pumped while attempting to rest, I will stay there long enough to let my breathing and heart rate slow down to where I feel that i am breathing normally. But it is obviously route-dependent and goal-dependent.

Why not let your performance determine what's optimal on any given route and any given rest? If you rest longer and have a better go on a sequence above the rest, then it is good to rest longer.

I can't see a point in picking an arbitrary number, like 20 seconds, unless you are training for climbing fast, or your goal is to climb under continuous pump for a certain amount of time, or something.

It depends if it is a real rest stance. If it is, take as long as you need to recover. If it is, more or less, a mental rest stance, providing little to actually rest your muscles, shake out once or twice to build some mental power and calm your nerves, then go for it.

I have screwed myself trying to milk a rest that actually caused more pump than it removed when I should have just charged though. Now I focus my mental effort into avoiding such "fake rests" for anything beyond a quick shakeout.

i tend to rest long enough that i can make a PBJ, take a dump if necessary, check my email, spray beta at the party next to me, chalk and rechalk, spray more beta, chalk again, then carry on. i don't know. 35 minutes?

I let know my belayer when I am going to take a rest and start climbing again, so he is not looking up waiting for me to climb. It depends on the route, (Steep, vertical, slab) find the best stances to rest, there is always a better foot or body position, hear your body and get mentally prepared for the next section.

If you are onsighting something hard, sometimes it is best to milk the hell out of those good rests. Climb up, try something, climb down back into to the rest position and revaluate. And keep looking for rests!

On redpoint, specially one you have tried a bit, you gotta figure out which rests you personally need to stay at longer and what you really gain from each rest. Take advantage of the big ones, then just chalk up and mentally prepare for a few short seconds on the terrible rests (as USnavy suggests). Gotta moniter the pump! If its not going away, climb on. If the shaking is working... milk it.

Depends on your level too. If the climb is even slightly overhung theres no point in me shaking out on even the biggest jug for longer than a minute or two, but my friend can get back to almost 100% using the same jug, and stay there all day if he wanted (he'll often skip the rest if climbing something thats my level). Though if I find a no hands rest after a pumpy section I usually stay long enough to catch ledgitis.

Feet and body position make all the difference. You could use the same jug to rest, but the dropknee someone else does, or the wider, or lower foot hold, or body postion turns an ok rest into an amazing one.